ABSTRACT
Non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (NHLs) are a heterogeneous group of cancers arising from B or T lymphocytes, also rarely from NK cells. This heterogeneity results from the numerous histological entities, the lymphoma’s location in nodal or extranodal sites, its capacity to remain localized or to disseminate throughout the body, and the patients’ age and associated diseases. The prognostic implications related to these variables must be known before therapeutic options are proposed. Because of the multiplicity of lymphoma entities and of the possible lymphoma manifestations, it is difficult to accurately predict the outcome of therapy in individual patients. Defining subgroups among large numbers of patients with histologically similar lymphomas and similar clinical manifestations is, however, likely to lead to the identification of meaningful prognostic indicators.
